Sojourner Truth

I have been giving a great amount thought recently to the notion that I may be simply, 'pissing in the wind' with this blog. While I receive a fairly decent number of hits on my counter, I rarely receive comments. With the rare exception of a few dedicated bloggers, hardly anyone comments. That's not a problem because I am writing mostly for me - it makes me feel better.

I have wondered whether my comments are too caustic or perhaps considered abrasive. They might be too boring - I'm not fishing for compliments here folks - by some but I am not yet ready to change my message in order to win over a loyal readership. Instead, I have reflected on a black woman that lived nearly 130 years ago during America's transition from slavery to freedom during the Civil War era.

The woman's name was Sojourner Truth. This name was adopted by her after she started protesting for the abolition of slavery. For those of you interested in more detail about her life, Wikipedia has a very concise and detailed account of who she was - You can click here for the link.

I recall during one of my history courses at the University of New Mexico (where I received one of my baccalaureate degrees in History), the story about how Sojourner Truth escaped to Canada and returned to New York when slavery was abolished there - in the North. She stumped throughout the North – north of the Mason-Dixon Line that us - where President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation freed slaves. She was regularly heckled as she made her speeches on street corners and public squares. Once, a man asked her just what did she think she was going to accomplish being a black woman calling for abolition of slavery. Her response was something so simple yet so profound. I think of it all the time when it seems like my words are small in comparison to the problems and issuesthat I speak out against.

Sojourner Truth responded, ‘Sir, even a little flea can make an ‘ol dog scratch hisself.”

Whenever I get to thinking that I might be wasting my time, I think about Sojourner Truth. What a powerful name. What a powerful thought coming from an uneducated, poor slave woman. She has taught me that we change the world little by little and moreover, it is each of our individual responsibilities to do what we can regardless of how unpopular it might be.
Right is right and wrong is wrong. We all know the difference so it is our duty as World Citizens to leave this planet in better shape than it was given to us. We owe it to our children regardless of their race, class, economic status or lifestyle. Every child on this planet is our child and we should never hurt out children and they deserve better.

She ranks up there with Martin Luther King, Ceasar Chavez, Mohadmas Ghandi and Nelson Mandela for me. Brave, courageous, committed and dedicated to their cause. What a different world we would live in if people like Karl Rove, Tom DeLay, George Bush or Osama Bin Laden emulated such people's paths of righteousness and Humanity.



Speak Out, Speak Up and Speak Often